Indonesia dishes and dessert

Indonesian Dishes and dessert
It is my belief that Indonesia dishes and dessert will be a valuable addition to any cook’s library. Its practical approach and simple presentation make it very easy to prepare a good, authentic Indonesian meal without going trough the whole ordeal.  

Weight and Measures
Ideally, you should have standard weighing and measuring kitchen devices. Metric measurements are used, however, lacking measuring device, you can use an ordinary standard teacup. For measuring spoons, you can use the plastic spoons that come with medicine bottle, ordinary teaspoons (tsp) and tablespoons (tbs).

Measurement in volume
1 tsp (standard) = 5 ml
1 tbs (standard) = 20 ml
1 ordinary teaspoon = 4 ml
1 ordinary tablespoon = 12 ½ ml
1 cup = 250 ml


Essential utensils for the Indonesian kitchen.

Essential utensils for the Indonesian kitchen.

• There are some traditional cooking utensils that are essential to Indonesian kitchen:
  

• The first and foremost is the ulek-ulek and cobek, a pestle and mortar. They are essential for pounding spice and chilies. The mortar is shaped like a wide, shallow bowl. It can be made of wood, but is usually made of a hard stone with a diameter of about 20 cm. The pestle is always of hard stone. Before using, the mortar should be soaked in water salted with 1- 2 tbs salt for about 7-10 days to rid the mortar of any gritty loose particles. The western pestle and mortar are also excellent, but quite different in shape. Indonesians hold the pestle sideways and grind down from side to side-in pounding spices, rather than thump it up and down. it results in a finer paste when preparing the spice-pastes necessary in Indonesian cooking.
  

• A wajan or round-bottomed frying pan or wok, as the Chinese call it, is another utensil. The best kind of wajan would be an one , because aluminum is an excellent heat conductor and light in weight.
  

• Do not use aluminum pots and pans when cooking dishes containing vinegar, tamarind, and santan (coconut cream), such as sayur Asem or Acar bumbu Kuning. The food will discolor because of the aluminum leaching into the sauce. For these dishes you should be use stainless steel or enamel-coated pots and pans.
  

• it is also useful to have assorted grating and shredding utensil, The Indonesian parut or grater, used primarily for grating coconut, is a wooden board studded with small nails, points outward, on which to grate the coconut. The task of making potato fritters and potato chips, or shredding carrots, cabbage, bamboo shoots for example, is made much easier if you have these utensils.
  

• Use modem up-to-date kitchen machines such as the blender, food processor, mixer, and pressure cooker. They are very useful, especially when you are preparing food in great quantities. For their correct usage, read their accompanying booklets.